Battle for Bed-Stuy : The Long War on Poverty in New York City / Michael Woodsworth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Woodsworth, Michael., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban policy--New York (State)--New York.

Urban policy.

Poverty--Political aspects--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Poverty.

African Americans--New York (State)--New York--Politics and government--20th century.

African Americans.

African American women--Political activity--New York (State)--New York.

African American women.

Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)--Economic conditions--20th century.

Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.).

Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (425 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Battle for Bed-Stuy is about an unlikely alliance that changed the shape of urban policy in the United States. The book reinterprets Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty from the ground up and shows how Johnson's "unconditional" crusade, launched in 1964, grew out of the rich exchange of ideas that had been unfolding in New York neighborhoods for years beforehand. The critical neighborhood in this story was Bedford-Stuyvesant, where the drive to end poverty dovetailed with a vibrant civil-rights movement. The book emphasizes the policy role of the area's African-American middle-class, especially women, who acted as brokers between politicians and the poor. In particular, they worked with Mayor Robert F. Wagner in the 1950s and early '60s to develop new social work techniques and a new model of neighborhood-based planning. Such partnerships laid the groundwork for the federal Community Action Program, the centerpiece of the War on Poverty."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction: The Senator and the Secretary

1. A Suitcase Full of Knives

2. Mobilizing the Forces

3. From the Club house to the White House

4. War and Rumors of War

5. Maximum Feasible Bureaucratization

6. The Power to Act

7. Whose Community, What Action?

8. From the Ground Up

Epilogue: Gloom and Boom

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed Feb. 24, 2017)

ISBN:

9780674970427

067497042X

9780674970403

0674970403

OCLC:

950613517